Laleye Dipo in Minna
The strike declared by organised labour in Niger State entered the second day yesterday paralysing government activities, just as the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) tasked Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to pay the “legally agreed minimum wage” to the civil servants.
The strike, according to findings by THISDAY, has started taking its toll on the ordinary man with the absence of medical personnel from public health institutions and scarcity of potable water in most communities.
It was gathered that patients’ family members have decided to patronise private clinics to take care of their sick ones, while water vendors have been making brisk business following skeletal operation by officials of the state’s water board.
THISDAY learnt that another meeting held between the organised labour and state government representatives on Wednesday to find solution to the issue was deadlocked.
Meanwhile, PDP in Niger State in its reaction about the dispute between the workers and the government said: “It is shocked that Governor Bello, who almost a year ago boasted that he’s ready to pay the new minimum wage of N30,000 passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by Mr. President, has failed to do so.”
“It is regrettable that Governor Bello would allow a labour dispute about wages and rights of workers to culminate into a total strike action,” the party added, describing the situation as “a classic case of dereliction of duty.”
PDP, in a statement its Chairman in Niger State, Tanko Beji, alleged: “It is regrettable that Governor Bello has abandoned the state and this is Day 2 of the strike action that has completely paralysed all hospitals and essential services in a state and which has already grounded the state economically to its knees due to cluelessness, pilferage and governance failures in the last five years.”
“It is against this backdrop that the PDP calls on the governor and his party to immediately pay workers their legally approved salaries, provide political and strategic leadership to the security architecture or immediately resign or Niger State House of Assembly should do the needful,” the statement said.
Beji also asked the APC-led government to find solutions to the increasing cases of insecurity in the state which has led to loss of lives and property and displaced many villagers from their ancestral homes.
